How to Invest in the Singapore Stock Market
You may have heard about buying stocks and would like to try your hand at it. But you hesitate because you aren't sure of how to go about opening an account,
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This is why you should buy the Singapore stock market
In recent years, Singapore’s stock market has been a lousy place to invest. But based on a number of investment parameters, that might be about to change. This
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How this "dividend" is transforming ASEAN
Demographics is one of the "big picture" themes that has a massive impact on the world's economic growth patterns. And it's going to be one of the many
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Why investors should be happy – when consumers are not
When consumers are feeling upbeat – about their income, jobs, and life – it should be good for the stock market. Or should it? Credit card company MasterCard
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Why your portfolio needs to get out of the house
For many people, there’s no place like home. It’s familiar and comfortable. But for your portfolio, staying at home means taking on a lot more risk than you
> READ MORE
What you need to know about Asia’s “robo” invasion
Robo-advisors are making a rapid push into Asia. When we last wrote about robo-advisors – which are online wealth management services that use mathematical
> READ MORE
This is why a mass murder in Florida matters – a lot – to Asia
Early Sunday morning, a deranged gunman murdered 49 people in a nightclub in Florida, in the U.S. Though half a world away, the worst mass shooting in U.S. history
> READ MORE
Why Singapore’s central bank brought flowers home last week
Central banks don’t usually bring flowers home for their spouse, or suggest a weekend getaway, or spring a surprise birthday party. But Singapore’s central bank
> READ MOREHow to Invest in the Singapore Stock Market
You may have heard about buying stocks and would like to try your hand at it. But you hesitate because you aren’t sure of how to go about opening an account, which broker to use, how much money you need to start and what types of fees and charges you can expect to pay.
If you’re new to the world of investing in stocks, and not entirely sure how to go about it – or even if you’re an old hand but are looking for a new broker – our comprehensive guide will provide all the information you need to choose the best brokerage account in Singapore to suit your needs.
This is why you should buy the Singapore stock market
In recent years, Singapore’s stock market has been a lousy place to invest. But based on a number of investment parameters, that might be about to change. This Insider Report will highlight three compelling reasons why now is the time to invest in the Singapore stock market:
- The cyclically adjusted price-earnings ratio (CAPE) says Singapore is one of the cheapest markets in the world
- The price-to-book ratio (P/B) is at a level that has historically been followed by huge market gains
- The market’s dividend yield is one of the highest it’s ever been This report will also look at some of the risks associated with Singapore’s stock market.
But first, we’ll look at why Singapore isn’t on more investors’ radars.
How this “dividend” is transforming ASEAN
Demographics is one of the “big picture” themes that has a massive impact on the world’s economic growth patterns. And it’s going to be one of the many sources of growth for parts of Southeast Asia in coming decades.
(In coming days we’ll tell you about a way to invest in ASEAN’s powerful demographics… stay tuned.)
Humanity is in the middle of the biggest demographic shift in history. Population growth is being forecast to explode in many African countries – and decline in Europe and several other major regions. Broadly speaking, economic growth is a function of the number of workers, and their productivity. Shifting demographics in part drives economic growth.
As we’ve recently discussed, Asia’s demographic future is a mixed bag. With its ageing population and low fertility rate, Japan is having some severe problems that will affect its economy for a long time.
China’s population is also expected to fall by 2 percent by 2050. And according to think tank Brookings Institution, the share of China’s working age population is declining rapidly, which will hurt future economic growth.
Southeast Asia, on the other hand, has much more reason to be optimistic. Demographics in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will likely boost the region’s economic growth over the next several decades.
ASEAN’s demographic dividend
ASEAN’s total GDP of US$2.43 trillion makes it the sixth-largest economy in the world. The region is also home to over 600 million people – more than North America or the European Union. It’s a rapidly developing region thanks in large part to its large working age population. Only China and India have larger labour forces than ASEAN.
Indeed, ASEAN has a higher than average proportion of working age adults – and it will likely stay that way until 2030. One estimate suggests that the working age population in ASEAN will account for 68 percent of the region’s total population by 2025 – up from less than 60 percent in 1990.
And as ASEAN’s working age population has increased, the share of its population that is too young or old to work – its dependents – has fallen. As a result, ASEAN’s dependency ratio, which measures the share of the dependent population against the working population, has been declining.
But ASEAN’s population growth has been slowing for the past 50 years. In 1965, annual population growth was 2.8 percent. By 1990, it had dropped to 2.1 percent. And last year, it was a mere 1.2 percent.
Looking ahead, the United Nations expects ASEAN’s population to rise from 633 million people in 2015 to 717 million in 2030, and to 741 million people in 2035, for average growth of 0.85 percent per year. That’s lower than the expected global growth rate of 0.98 percent during the same period – indicating lower fertility rates.
In many ways ASEAN is enjoying what’s called a demographic dividend. This describes how a population’s changing age structure can help boost economic growth. It usually happens when labour force participation rises and fertility rates fall, which is what’s happening in ASEAN right now.
With the labour force temporarily growing faster than the dependent population, there are more resources available for investment in family welfare and economic development. And when countries have a greater share of people who can work, save and pay taxes, the economy benefits. And it leads to an increase in growth in income levels that can last for decades.
The dividend won’t last forever
However, eventually a rapidly ageing population – since there are fewer babies and thus fewer young people – causes the share of the working-age population to decline. Then the dependency ratio begins to rise. When the population to labour force ratio rises, GDP per capita income starts growing more slowly.
But this is years away for ASEAN. The UN predicts that ASEAN’s dependency ratio will start to drop over the next few years, from 0.48 in 2015 – meaning that for every 100 working age people, there will be 48 dependents – to 0.47 by 2020. This is well below the global average of 0.54.
However, the ratio will begin to rise by 2030, and then accelerate to reach 0.59 by 2035, which will be in line with the rest of the world.
Singapore and, to a lesser extent, Thailand, will drive much of the increase in the ratio, thanks to their older populations. According to 2016 estimates, other than Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, the median age of ASEAN countries – that is, the age at which have the population is older, and half is younger – is less than 30:
This suggests that there are still lots of young, working-age adults in the region, especially when compared to other parts of the world. In the U.S., the median age is 37.9 years. In China, it’s 37.1 years. And in Japan, it’s a much older 46.9 years.
The remaining ASEAN nations will see only modest rises in dependency. But the “demographic dividend” for the region is expected to end by around 2030. By this point, the Asian Development Bank estimates, 10.8 percent of the ASEAN population will be above 65, much higher than the 6.8 percent recorded in 2010.
ASEAN’s demographic dividend doesn’t necessarily guarantee a boost in economic growth. A country can blow their demographic dividend with the wrong social and economic policies.
And since ASEAN members have some major political differences, favourable demographics may not benefit every ASEAN country to the same degree.
That being said, trade liberalisation and increased ASEAN worker mobility will help the region capitalise on its demographic dividend. And that makes the future success of the ASEAN Economic Community even more important.
For the next 15 years or so, demographics are going to play an influential key role in boosting ASEAN’s economic health. Shortly we’ll tell you about a way to invest in this trend that could dramatically increase the value of your portfolio – so stay tuned.
Kim Iskyan
Why investors should be happy – when consumers are not
When consumers are feeling upbeat – about their income, jobs, and life – it should be good for the stock market. Or should it?
Credit card company MasterCard regularly conducts a consumer confidence survey throughout 17 Asia-Pacific region countries, in which it polls consumers about their feelings on five economic factors including the economy, employment and income, the stock market and their quality of life.
In the latest survey, consumer confidence in both Singapore and Hong Kong scored in the low-30s – with 100 being extremely optimistic, and zero being darkly suicidal. The most optimistic countries – markets where people are buying stuff, hiring people, and doing other things that will boost the economy – were Myanmar (with a hard-to-believe score of 99.8) and India (97.6).
The last time consumer confidence in Singapore and Hong Kong was so low was in June 2009, near the end of the global financial crisis. Confidence levels have fallen more than 10 points since the end of 2015.
In the same way that strong economic growth is not necessarily good for the stock market, though, happy consumers are also not good for the stock market. And (similar to economic growth), lower consumer confidence is often a signal that stocks are about to head higher. Consumer confidence and stock markets tend to bottom out at about the same time.
The following chart shows the performance of Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) compared to Singapore’s consumer confidence index.
Since the turn of the century, a fall in consumer confidence has preceded a recovery in the STI a number of times. The consumer confidence index previously hit lows in December 2002, June 2009, December 2011 and December 2013. And on every occasion, the market started to rally (to varying degrees) just before, or at about the same time, that consumers were feeling the least optimistic.
(This is just one reason to consider buying Singapore shares… see our report here about other reasons to be upbeat about the STI.)
Hong Kong shows a similar trend. Pessimism in Hong Kong has in recent years preceded a rally in the Hang Seng.
Why is this? In general, factors like consumer confidence and economic conditions are “priced in” to the stock market. So by the time consumers are upbeat and optimistic, stocks have already moved up, and are poised to fall (this doesn’t bode well for India’s stock market). On the other hand, low consumer confidence suggests that shares are in a good position to rise.
Remember, share prices don’t reflect what’s happening right now. They reflect what investors think is going to happen. So it’s possible to make money in stocks during normal times. But the biggest gains come after the economy has been doing poorly.
Over the long term, consumer confidence is important for share prices. But in order for confidence to rise, it has to be low.
The following chart illustrates this cycle of emotions. It shows how growing optimism often means markets are at more risk of a fall. But the point of maximum pessimism often presents the best buying opportunities.
Cycle of Investor Emotions
If the latest consumer confidence results are indeed a sign of “despondency,” it also suggests that Singapore and Hong Kong investors are facing the point of “maximum potential opportunity.”
Markets can always go lower and consumers can get more pessimistic. But using history as a guide, investors in Singapore and Hong Kong should be feeling very optimistic about the prospects of the local stock market.
Kim Iskyan
Why your portfolio needs to get out of the house
For many people, there’s no place like home. It’s familiar and comfortable. But for your portfolio, staying at home means taking on a lot more risk than you might realise.
It’s natural to want to invest at home. If you live in Singapore, for example, you see the Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) quoted every night on the news. You drive by the DBS building every day. Jets bearing the Singapore Airlines logo fly above you, and you shop at a CapitaLand mall. Investing locally means investing in what you know – which, as we’ve written before, is generally smart.
Everyone is guilty of home country bias
So it’s not surprising that most people invest mostly in their home market. Due to “home country bias,” the average American with a stock portfolio has 79 percent of her money in U.S.-listed stocks. Investors in Japan put about 55 percent of their money in Japan-listed stocks. People in Australia have two-thirds of their portfolio in local shares.
That might be what they’re comfortable with. But from a portfolio diversification perspective, it’s like juggling live dynamite.
As the graph below shows, American stocks account for only 51 percent of total global market capitalisation (that is, the value of all stock markets in the world). So American investors are a lot more exposed to U.S.-listed companies than – based on a breakdown of the world’s markets – they should be. Japanese investors are even more lopsided in their home preference – Japan accounts for only 7 percent of the world’s stock market. And Australians put 66 percent of their money into their own market – which is just two percent of the world’s markets.
And Singapore’s stock market is only 0.4 percent of the world total, but Singaporeans invest about 39 percent in domestic equities. Home country bias means most investors have too much exposure to their local market.
Why do investors do this? Besides investing in what they know, studies have shown that domestic investors tend to be more optimistic about the local economy than are foreign investors. Also, local investors face fewer tax hassles when buying domestic shares, and less foreign currency risk. Investors often trust companies and stocks outside their borders less than they do those in their own country (even if the “foreign” market is bigger and less volatile than the local market).
How geographic diversification helps
A portfolio that isn’t sufficiently diversified is riskier than one that is well diversified. And geographical diversification is important, as we showed here. Since different markets outperform at different times, even though they all tend to move in the same general direction, having money invested in a range of geographical markets can boost your returns.
Make sure to assess the home bias of your own portfolio. If you have a severe case of home country bias, it would be wise to consider making a few adjustments to move some of your money elsewhere. Your portfolio can only benefit from being a little more cosmopolitan.
An easy, inexpensive way to diversify globally is to use ETFs. There are a variety of ETFs available on the Singapore and Hong Kong Exchanges that give you exposure to specific countries, or the entire global market. For example, in Singapore you can buy the Lyxxor UCITS MSCI World Index ETF (code: H1P). This gives you exposure to 23 different countries and most of the world’s biggest publicly-traded companies with one investment.
What you need to know about Asia’s “robo” invasion
Robo-advisors are making a rapid push into Asia.
When we last wrote about robo-advisors – which are online wealth management services that use mathematical formulas to develop, maintain and rebalance your investment portfolio – in January, there were only a handful of Asian robo-advisor firms. This included Hong Kong’s 8Now! and Singapore-based private banker Infinity Partners. However, both of those companies serve narrow client bases. 8Now! only works with wealthy investors in Hong Kong and Japan, and Infinity mostly serves U.S. expats in the region.
Six months ago, Asia’s smaller retail investors didn’t have many options. But that’s starting to change.
Smartly, a Singapore-based robo-advisor, expects to launch next month. The start-up will allow for investments of as little as $50. It’s also developing an educational platform to help clients gain a better understanding of investing.
Smartly promises low fees compared to the 2-3 percent traditional advisors in Asia normally charge: 1 percent annually for accounts under $10,000; 0.7 percent for $10,000-$100,000 accounts; and 0.5 percent for $100,000-plus.
Robo-advisors can charge fees this low in part because they use mathematical formulas called algorithms—not costly, biased, and emotionally driven human advisors—to manage your portfolio. Also, robo-advisors often allocate money to ETFs, which generally have much lower fees than the investment funds that traditional advisors in Asia normally use.
(Please see our previous article on robo-advisors for a more detailed explanation of how they work.)
Robo-advisory options for Asian businesses are also growing. Bambu, a business-to-business (B2B) robo-advisor, launched in Singapore in April. It’s partnering with global giants like data company Thomson Reuters to offer its robo-advisor services to businesses of every size and type – even if they have smaller accounts than traditional wealth managers usually accept.
The recent growth in Asia is impressive. But it may be just a taste of what’s to come, if what’s been happening in the U.S. and Europe is any indication.
Giant investment firms like Blackrock Inc. (the world’s biggest investment management company), Invesco, Goldman Sachs and others have all recently spent hundreds of millions of dollars to buy existing robo-advisor companies in the U.S.
Other major banks and investment houses are opting to develop their own online services in-house. Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are designing their own technologies, and German banking giant Deutsche Bank introduced its own robo-advisory in December.
So far, the U.S. and Europe have dominated the robo-advisory space. That makes sense… the 2007-09 financial crisis hit these regions much harder than it hit Asia. And the fallout opened up opportunities for innovative, technology-driven solutions. The crisis also exposed the excessively high fees U.S. and European banks and brokerages charge.
While the rules for setting up an investment advisory company are similar between U.S. states, as well as member countries of the Eurozone, they can vastly differ from one Asian country to the next. So in Hong Kong, for instance, regulations still require some degree of human involvement when providing wealth management services. This has limited Asia’s development of automated investment services compared to the west.
Younger retail investors – who already manage the rest of their financial lives online – have driven a growing interest in robo-advisors. But they are also catching on with older generations. They all like the fact that they can invest smaller amounts than traditional asset managers normally require and that there are no biased investment decisions. And, as mentioned, the fees are much lower. Lower fees make a big difference over time.
Traditional financial advisors are increasingly concerned about the low fees robo-advisors can charge. That’s why they’re developing their own automated platforms or strategically acquiring robo-advisor “fintechs.” It means they can continue to compete. And it attracts new retail investors, creating more opportunities to form traditional wealth management relationships down the line… and ultimately, more opportunities to charge heftier fees.
Some firms are even offering “hybrid” services: robo-advisories with representatives available to answer questions, for customers who want some human interaction in the investing process.
Given the head start U.S. and European companies have in this space, many Asian robo-advisories will likely partner with large foreign financial institutions to get off the ground. For Asia’s investors, that could mean swift growth over the next few months.
Blackrock Inc. is looking to enter the Asian robo-advisory market. Kevin Hardy, the head of BlackRock Singapore, says the company is in talks with “organisations that are looking to establish a footprint in the region using robo-advisory technology.”
Link Pacific Advisors also sees the growth potential for robo-advisors in Asia. The firm aims to connect high-quality fintech companies from overseas with clients and strategic partners in the region. Justin Balogh, Link Pacific’s representative director, thinks Asia’s wealth management opportunities are the fastest-growing in the world.
For now, the U.S. and Europe still dominate the robo-advisory industry, both in terms of the number of investment firms and amount of assets under management. But Asia is picking up speed. Five of the six largest internet companies in Asia have now entered the wealth management market.
Hong Kong’s Tencent, for example, is considering offering a wealth management service through its popular WeChat app. Capitalising on the robo-advisor boom is the next logical step for Tencent and other companies like it.
With start-ups like Smartly catering to entry-level retail investors and big hitters like Blackrock showing interest in the Asian market, robo-advisors are set to play an increasingly critical role in Asia’s wealth management industry.
As more robo-advisories move into Asian markets, more of the region’s investors will see the substantial difference one or two percentage points makes in the fees they have to pay. This could lead to another string of mergers, acquisitions and new partnerships like those happening in the U.S. and Europe right now.
While the robots haven’t taken over Asia quite yet, they are certainly on their way. And this is good news for investors.
Kim Iskyan
This is why a mass murder in Florida matters – a lot – to Asia
Early Sunday morning, a deranged gunman murdered 49 people in a nightclub in Florida, in the U.S. Though half a world away, the worst mass shooting in U.S. history could have a big impact on Asia.
The end of globalisation?
As we’ve written before, the potential of celebrity billionaire Donald Trump becoming U.S. president is a big threat to Asia. Protectionism, in particular through U.S.-China trade “reform,” is an important element of Trump’s foreign policy.
He argues that China is taking American jobs, breaking the rules of international trade, stealing commercial secrets, and manipulating its currency to gain an economic advantage. Part of Trump’s plan to “make America great again” (his campaign slogan) appears to be a trade war with China and much of the rest of Asia.
This is an attack on the globalisation of trade, commerce and business that has been a building block of economic growth in recent decades – especially for Asia. The bottomless American consumer appetite for more things has been rocket fuel for many Asian economies.
Today, some countries in Asia – Singapore and Hong Kong in particular – thrive because they are at the centre of the global trade web. As shown below, trade accounted for 439 percent of Hong Kong’s total economic output in 2014, and 351 percent for Singapore. That compares to a still-high ratio of 138 percent for Malaysia, and just 30 percent for the U.S.
The anti-foreigner sentiment
Other elements of Trump’s foreign policy similarly reflect a strong anti-foreigner sentiment in American society. He wants to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to stem the flow of immigrants from Latin America into the U.S. And he’s repeatedly called for a temporary ban on Muslim immigration to the U.S.
During the shooting, the gunman pledged allegiance to radical Islamist terror group ISIS, and he had been investigated by the domestic U.S. intelligence agency for possible links to ISIS. (However, he was American, and born in New York.)
Following the Orlando shootings, Donald Trump renewed his calls for a ban on Muslim immigration, and earlier this week expanded it to cover all countries that have had some history of terrorism.
Trump’s fortress-America policy stance resonates with the U.S. population. He is very likely going to be one of the two main U.S. political parties’ candidate for president.
A poll last month found that 43 percent of adult Americans supported a ”temporary ban on Muslims who are not U.S. citizens from entering the United States.” That percentage is likely only to increase following the Florida shooting.
China, terrorism, and “not one of us”
The brand of xenophobia that large segments of the American population is subscribing to – through Donald Trump – doesn’t equate trade with China with Islamic terrorism. But it does cultivate a mentality that excludes anything that isn’t “American” (as defined by Trump’s supporters).
And in that way, a gunman in Florida with possible links to foreign terrorism represents a big threat to trade with Asia – and to Asia’s economic growth.
The underlying discontent of a large number of Americans that Donald Trump has succeeded in harnessing isn’t going to go away – even if there is no President Trump. He has created space for other opportunistic politicians to follow his path. And Trump’s policies – his attitudes toward Asia are relatively mild compared to other things he’s said – will in coming months become mainstream. And then it’s a matter of time before they’re enacted.
What does this mean for Asia? It’s going to have to find new sources of demand. Markets that are now benefiting from American demand will need to diversify. Economic growth will likely slow.
For now, there’s nothing to do… but this is something to keep a very close eye on, because everything stays the same – until everything changes, all of a sudden.
Kim Iskyan
Why Singapore’s central bank brought flowers home last week
Central banks don’t usually bring flowers home for their spouse, or suggest a weekend getaway, or spring a surprise birthday party. But Singapore’s central bank last week did something like this for the country’s economy.
That’s nice for Singapore. But what it says about the state of the world economy is less nice.
On Thursday, Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), announced that it would no longer allow the Singapore dollar to appreciate versus other currencies. The last time it did this was during the global financial crisis of 2008. The Singapore dollar fell over 1 percent on the news.
Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has fewer tools than other central banks. One of its main goals, like other central banks, is to make sure that inflation is just right – not too high, and not too low. But unlike other central banks, it doesn’t use interest rates to control prices – it uses something called an exchange rate policy band.
Twice a year, the MAS sets a band, or range, within which it wants the Singapore dollar to trade relative to a basket of other major currencies. It doesn’t tell anyone what currencies are in this basket. But it’s a pretty good assumption that the basket includes the currencies of its biggest trading partners. The range is referred to as the “nominal effective exchange rate,” or NEER.
As shown below, the MAS has gradually been allowing the country’s dollar to appreciate versus this basket of currencies over the past several years.
If the Singapore dollar starts bumping against either end of the exchange rate policy band, the MAS will buy or sell foreign currencies (mostly U.S. dollars) in the foreign exchange market to keep the currency within the range. But last week, the MAS said “no more” to a stronger Singapore dollar.
If Singapore’s economy, or inflation, starts growing too quickly, the MAS will “tighten” its monetary policy by allowing the dollar to increase in value compared to this basket of currencies.
If the economy slows, and inflation along with it, the MAS will “ease” monetary policy by allowing the currency to go down in value (or prevent it from increasing in value).
That would make Singaporean products and services cheaper for foreigners to buy, which would increase trade and help Singapore’s economy. And that’s what they did last week. The MAS adjusted the band it allows the dollar to trade in by setting the upper band, or the rate of appreciation, at 0 percent. This means they don’t want the dollar to appreciate in value versus the basket of currencies.
The MAS had a lot of reasons to do this. First, economic growth in 2015 was the lowest it’s been in six years – and the first quarter of this year has been even worse.
This isn’t a surprise, as economic growth in the U.S., Europe and Japan has slowed down, and this affects global trade. And, perhaps most importantly, Singapore’s biggest export market, China, has also slowed down economically. A slowdown in global trade hits Singapore’s economy hard.
When a currency weakens (or at least doesn’t strengthen) compared to other currencies, trade usually goes up, because it will be less expensive for other countries to buy the country’s products. In this case, that should be good for Singapore’s economy.
(But it’s not good for other countries. When one currency weakens, another currency strengthens – which is bad for that country’s economy).
By locking down its currency, Singapore is trying to protect itself against further weakening in its economy… which suggests that it expects the global economy to get worse. (Just a few days before the MAS made its announcement, the International Monetary Fundwarned that global economic growth is weakening).
Also, Singapore is already the world’s most expensive country. If the Singapore dollar gets any more expensive, buying a new Honda CR-V would cost even more than the US$102,000 that it costs now. (Much of the reason that cars cost many times more in Singapore than they do elsewhere in the world is high local taxes – although a stronger currency would make it even more expensive).
And by saying that it won’t allow the Singapore dollar to strengthen more, the MAS says it doesn’t want things to get even more expensive (in foreign currency terms).
The MAS is also concerned about deflation. That’s when prices start falling – which might sound like a good thing, but it’s actually not. Singapore’s prices have been falling for more than a year.
Preventing the dollar from going up in value should have the same effect that cutting interest rates would have in other countries. It will help promote more spending (by businesses and people using foreign currencies) and when there is more spending, prices tend to go up. In the meantime, the best bet is that the Singapore dollar won’t be appreciating.
